Four weeks into the 90-day referendum campaign to decriminalize marijuana, organizers on the Sunshine Coast estimate they have collected almost half of the necessary number of signatures for the riding.
City of Powell River Councillor Debbie Dee is heading up Sensible BC’s signature collecting effort on the Upper Sunshine Coast. Signatures from 10 per cent of registered voters in all of BC’s electoral districts are needed to force a referendum. In Powell River-Sunshine Coast, the campaign must collect at least 3,763 signatures.
Dee estimates that over 1,000 signatures have been collected in Gibsons and Sechelt and just under that amount in Powell River.
The Powell River campaign, so far, has been conducted by collecting signatures at a table set up at Town Centre Mall, at CMG Printers and by a canvasser on Texada Island going door-to-door.
Organizers are now planning to step up their efforts. “The first half has been relatively easy to get,” said Dee.
Organizers are planning a door-to-door campaign around town and visiting communities north of town in the coming weeks. They will also continue to collect signatures at the mall and at the stall of a mushroom-buyer in Cranberry.
Sensible BC has until December 9 to return the signed petition sheets to Elections BC. If the group and its volunteers gather enough signatures, it would trigger a referendum in September 2014.
Out-of-town residents wishing to sign the petition can contact Dee at 604.414.3540.
